


satellites: ennui

by hyperloop



Series: satellites [5]
Category: Original Work, Satellites - Fandom
Genre: 3, Alrighty lets do this, Other, enjoy babes, i had a funny tag but it was too long 8(, today i'm gonna show you some new stuff i learned when i was fucking writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-13
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2019-01-16 17:18:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12347121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyperloop/pseuds/hyperloop
Summary: salem gets w o k e in a spooky! storm and wanders outside and oh my god you'll never fucking guess what happens next





	satellites: ennui

**Author's Note:**

> ALRIGHT FOLKS THIS ONE GOES OUT TO MY TWO BESTEST FRIENDS IN THE WHOLE WORLD! PATRICK... AND THIS BIG PEANUT GUY. IT'S A LITTLE DITTY CALLED... WAAAAITERRRRR!!!!!

_Satellites: Ennui_

 

_“With every desire for adventure, there is a listless counterpart strong enough to encourage meaningless thought.”_

 

_. . ._

 

It was countable, but almost immeasurable. Time was slipping by, practically melting at your fingertips, yet there was nothing to compare it to. What a frightening concept, to have something dominate so much of your life, yet truly mean so little. It continues to escape your mind. We always say that we are “killing time”, but who knew that succumbing to time was ultimate defeat?

 

_Crack!_ Salem griped out loud. “Not again…” Thunder from outside shook the house. He rubbed his eyes, cloudy from sleep, or maybe lack thereof. Well, he WAS sleeping well, until one particularly loud bit of thunder hit and knocked his rest right out of him. He rolled onto his back and sighed as he noticed his desire, or ability, rather, to sleep has faded. He gazed out the window on his ceiling, observing the heavy stormy raindrops splattering atop, the rainy mood punctuated occasionally by a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder. Late summer nights, what are you gonna do?

 

Maybe, just maybe, if he flashes back hard enough to the events of earlier today, he’ll forget that the storm is even there, practically knocking at his window. He honestly doesn’t know how his dad could possibly sleep through this. He sat up and leaned his back on the headboard of his bed, and rested his head back. Time to think, in deep analysis, about what happened today.

 

Salem and Gale went to see their mother across town for dinner the day before, and stayed the night there. Salem sat outside in the driveway with a bag containing a change of clothes, waiting for Gale to pick him up. He sat, checking the time occasionally, and sweating more and more as he realized that she was late. He expected such a thing, after all. He didn’t care for being out there waiting on her in the summer heat, but if anything it would just make him appreciate the merit of air conditioning even more. Within the next few minutes, he saw her car on the road, pulling into the driveway, and got a sense of relief. She pulled up next to him, and he got in the back seat of the car, and sighed in comfort as his back sunk into the seat. “Ahh, air conditioning, how I’ve missed you.” He joked.

 

Gale giggled, shut the door for him, and pulled away for the 20 minute drive. Gale had her wavy hair down, which was now a few inches shy of her shoulders, her bangs growing down near her eyes. She wore a light pastel color sundress and black boots, which was objectively an odd combination, but Salem didn’t even think a thing of it. “What’s up, kiddo?” Gale started. “What do you suppose mom has called us for this time, hm?” Salem responded.

 

“I don’t really have any ideas. I guess it’s possible she just wanted a night out with the kids. But we don’t know.” Both of them knew well that the relationship they had with their mother was not of normalcy. They saw her once every few months, and even when those times occurred, it wasn’t simple. It was awkward. Salem got the feeling that she had always treated Gale a little differently than him, in abnormal ways. He never talked to her about it. Sure, maybe he wanted to ask her how it felt, but he didn’t know if that line of questioning was “acceptable” in the family.

 

The two passed the downtime in the car by discussing various outings they’ve attended with friends and others over the summer break. Salem was reminded that he didn’t see Gale enough. Every time he talks with her just to catch up on life, he felt like something new happened that he totally missed out. Milestones, relationships, or just plain cool stuff. Apparently Gale got a pet parakeet named Petri sometime in the last few weeks, completely spontaneous.   
How cool is that?? He would love to visit her more often, and knew she probably felt the same way, but neither of their schedules allowed for that.

 

Salem’s heart rate quickened as Gale pulled up the house, which belonged to their mom’s boyfriend. He wasn’t sure why, if it was anxiety? Maybe tension? Who the hell knows. Either way, it wasn’t enjoyable. But he knew it would pass, and whatever he was feeling most likely crossed Gale’s mind as well. They both got out of the car, knocked on the door, and let themselves in. “Oh, look who it is!!” Mrs. Daltroy shouted, standing up from the dinner table. Salem took a big whiff to identify what they were having for dinner. The air smelled like fast food, but more specifically, chicken and potatoes. His stomach growled, yet he didn’t feel like eating. Strange. Mrs. Daltroy walked up to Salem and gave him a hug tight enough for him to feel his own heartbeat on his chest. “Hey mom--” Salem managed to squeak out. She was a perfect medium in height, taller than Salem but shorter than Gale. “Oh Salem, I missed you so much. And you!” She reached higher up to give Gale a hug as well, but the whole thing just looked awkward from Salem’s memory. Anyway, food.

 

Gale and Salem took seats next to each other at the table. Salem stared at the storebought fried chicken and mashed potatoes. It looked good, but he realized he’s only be hurting himself with his decision to not eat. “I’m not very hungry, had a big lunch.” Salem chuckled. “If you insist…” Mrs. Daltroy insisted. Across the table was her boyfriend, whose name wasn’t worth memorizing, who was quite timid. He rarely spoke up aside from nodding and affirming in agreement to whatever Mrs. Daltroy had to say.

 

The rest of the dinner was casual. Conversation arising from time to time, sometimes passive-aggressive. When it got silent, Salem became painfully aware of it. He would stare down at the table, hoping for someone else to talk about what kind of wacky adventures summer has allowed them to have. At one point someone made a remark about being tired, and they all headed to bed. There were two bedrooms. One for Mrs. Daltroy and her boyfriend, and with a bed and a cot for Gale and Salem. Salem let Gale have the bed. Coincidentally, the both of them have trouble sleeping regularly, which left them in some strange situations, namely involving the both of them staying awake, saying very much or very little. Salem laid in bed with his clothes on, as if he really cared. Sometimes it would cross his mind to talk to his sister about the problems of the universe, other times he just stayed dead silent. Sometimes he had so many questions, he decided not to say a word, but to just sit there and let them boil over in his head.

 

When he would get bored of checking his phone every 2 minutes to no notifications in the dead of night, he would get up and walk around the house, in search of something else to do, to make him distracted, to make him exhausted. Considering he didn’t eat anything for dinner, he was rather hungry. He got up quietly and went into the kitchen to make a bowl of ramen soup. If he was lucky, his mom would have some pickle chips in stock as well. And she did, what a treat! He cooked his ramen and sat it at the table with his bag of pickle chips he’d been snacking on throughout. He sat down, waiting for it to cool off. Checked his phone. No notifications. No messages. No nothing.

 

It was at this point that the details of the night became foggy in his head, must have been the time his lack of sleep finally hit him. He ate most of his food, went to bed, and the rest was a blur until Gale drove him home the next day. Or, today, rather. Or yesterday? What time is it anyway? 2:45 AM? Yikes. He’s supposed to be FIXING his sleep schedule, not whatever the fuck this is called.

 

Back to where we really are. In bed, 2:45 AM, thunderstorm, which has calmed significantly by now, and unable to sleep. He missed Cambria. He also missed Peter, and pretty much everyone he once had a flourishing relationship with. “It’s summer,” He told himself. “They’re out and about. They’re doing stuff. They’re… meeting new people…” Suddenly he didn’t feel so great. Meeting new people? Where has Salem been mentally for the past few months? Certainly not with them. Truth be told, he was so focused on other things. Namely, the safety of his robot friend. He missed Renegade more than anything. He was worried sick, literally. He stayed up at night with the same gross feeling deep in his stomach as he had now. The feeling that his life was an inconsistent mess and he wasn’t sure when, if ever, he’d remedy it all. He felt ill and restless knowing that he never treated Cambria right. He also knew that he never made peace with Renegade. It could be anywhere right about now, it could be long gone for all Salem knew. The mere idea made him wince with wrath and pained eyes. He tightened his jaw and growled while rubbing his face with his hands, scratching it lightly with his short bitten nails. Good luck sleeping now.

 

He was in that mood again. One that he hasn’t been in since late winter, and an impulsive one at that. Emotional paroxysm, one after another, he had to get out and do something about it. He wouldn’t do anything that presented him with any real danger, his desire to literally “get lost” was only passive. Meaning, he wasn’t actively seeking to do anything stupid, but if he found himself in a stupid situation on behalf of an adventure, he wouldn’t resist. Looking up, he realized that there was only a drizzle outside, if anything. He scoffed at himself for a moment. Nearly 3 AM. Was he really about to…? Yes, of course he was.

 

He stood up out of bed, put on his glasses, wearing only his underwear. He effortlessly grabbed his gray sweatpants and the last t-shirt he wore, and hastily put them on his body. Unusually so, he didn’t even look in the mirror to assess himself. He had no one to impress looking like this. He picked up his phone, put it in the pocket of his sweatpants. Retrieved some old socks off of the floor, put them on, and slipped on his shoes. He approached his bedroom door. “What am I thinking???” He whisper-scolded himself. He knew that his dad MOST LIKELY didn’t wake up during the thunderstorm. What’s that thing they say? Better safe than sorry? Still applies. He walked backwards toward his window. He remembered in great detail, Renegade jumping out of the window, leaping towards what he assumed to be “home” to it, purple aura following, leaving him with questions on top of questions.

 

He grunted again, and pushed the window open with force. He hurled himself outside, closing it all but enough for him to get back in. He jumped off of his roof and onto the wet, muddy grass, which didn’t feel super. He walked around past his front yard and onto the main road. No one was there. The road appeared slick with rainwater and colorful in the reflection of traffic signals. He looked up and he couldn’t see the stars. Instead, he saw clouds that seemed low but it was dark and difficult to tell. He looked ahead slightly, and saw the luminescent city lighting up the heavily clouded sky. Sometimes he heard what could be a car passing. As he got closer to the more populated area, sometimes people talking, maybe music, jargon he couldn’t make out or recognize, just barely in earshot. He let the shining sky direct him to where he needed to be, and followed the glowing clouds. Sometimes a raindrop from a tree overhead would splat down on his face or head, but it was warm and he didn’t really mind. The whole area smelled like a freshly opened can of worms, but in spite of that, there was definitely something that he found cathartic about the gleam of the city in the rainclouds at night.

 

Every damp splashy footstep he took got him closer to where he was going.  In all honesty, he hadn’t yet given much thought to what he would do once he got to the city. The rumble of distant thunder was heard as the storms rolled past and further away from him. The reflection of the city light got bigger, and he noticed the buildings stood taller around him. He inhaled some of the air, it had a polluted, moist, urban tinge. He looked ahead and the light from the flashy neon colored attention grabbers at each window of a store or restaurant scattered across the drops on his glasses. It was no 24/7 metropolis like some of the other “cities” nearby, pretty much everything he saw was closed, but the natural light of the urban environment and streetlights was enough to light up the sky. This was the city that Renegade brought him to, but in present time.

 

There he stood, he heard the sound of drains still filtering the rainwater out of their gutters and into the stormdrains, and saw puddles on the ground which reflected the light from the flamboyant signs and advertisements. He walked near the sidewalk, tripping on potholes. There was no real thing preventing him from walking in the road, so he did. He walked in the center of the road and kicked stones and pebbles into puddles whenever possible.

 

He got to the middle of the city, marking it was a large roundabout with grass and a small tree in the center. He flashed back to the fountain that was there the last time he was there in the future with Renegade. There was no fountain, he wasn’t really expecting one, but it was still an odd change of pace, to not hear the fountain gurgling. He stepped on the curb of the roundabout, and put his arms out to help him balance as he clumsily walked around it. He took a breath in, the taste of the air on his tongue and general vibe of the city at night gave him a superliminal feeling. His senses were loaded with unfamiliar feelings so much that he didn’t feel real. The air was perfect on his skin, steamy but not hot. When he rubbed his hands over his arms he almost got chills. Continuing to walk laps around the curb, he looked all around, comparing the shine of the futuristic city to what he had before him now. There was one definite similarity, and that was the swingset in front of the roundabout.

 

_Plap!_ He hopped off of the curb and onto the wet ground again. Salem walked in the short, mushy grass near the swingset. It squelched under his feet. He looked at it. The swingset was old and worn down, rusted metal bars and chains holding it up. It almost felt out of place in such a modern city, like a relic of the place before its time. Right then, Salem felt ill. Something wasn’t right. He didn’t know if he wanted to go home, or go somewhere else. He was missing so many things in his life and unsure about the rest. He took a seat on the leftmost swing and rested his elbows on his legs and his face in his hands, whimpering softly in sorrow. He rocked back and forth a bit on his swing, the worn metal screeched with every movement. He thought about Renegade and his chest ached. He wanted to be with it, if not just to know that it was safe, wherever it is. He looked to the left of him wishing he could see a blue umbrella set against the swingset, but he didn’t. He sobbed, but no tears came out. He just wanted to know if Renegade was in good hands. If it was seriously hurt, Salem didn’t know what he’d do. Salem’s hands clenched as he scratched his face with his fingernails and breathed heavily, muttering words of desperation to himself. Out of the quiet, he heard footsteps come from behind him. He immediately stopped his cry, suddenly puzzled as to what could have woken someone in the sleeping city. Thoughts racing, he didn’t turn around, he stood completely still as whatever that was in the mushy grass came closer. He felt something cold and solid on his shoulder. He moved to see what it was, and above him were two glowing magenta eyes.

 

“Ren…?!” Salem whispered. It sat on the swing next to his, moved its hand to hold onto the chains, and rocked slowly. “Hello, Salem.” It was Renegade. “You’re okay!” The boy gasped, getting up from his swing to stand in front of Renegade. He laughed, walked up, and hugged the bot tight in his arms. Renegade didn’t respond, but Salem didn’t care. He was just happy to see it. He gave it another look, and saw it still wore his tattered hoodie and sweatpants. “What happened to you? I mean, I guess you don’t have to tell me anything, but I would really, really, like an explanation.” Renegade stared at the mulch below its swing. It stood up and walked forward, away from the swingset. “Come with me.” It motioned Salem along, and he followed. The shorter boy walked behind Renegade, watching it look, not ahead, but up with each forward stride. The rain ceased almost entirely, and the clouds began to clear from the sky. Renegade stayed quiet to the point where Salem wondered if it intended to not tell him a thing all night. “So… you were saying? About what happened earlier?”

 

“Ah, right.” Renegade rubbed its hands together. Salem got the feeling that this was difficult for it to talk about. “I’m in trouble, Salem.” It spoke. “Can you tell me what happened?” “Something’s after me.” Anger pooled into Salem’s chest. He knew that if someone was trying to hurt Renegade, they wouldn’t make it past him alive. Nonetheless, he remained calm. “Who is it?” Renegade continued to walk on into the city, Salem following, too preoccupied to care where it was leading him. “It isn’t really a person. It’s a program. It’s a hunter.” “What is it made from?” Salem asked rapidfire. Renegade slowly stopped walking and looked down, a little bit behind him towards Salem. “It’s made from the same thing I am.” It said reluctantly. “I said it’s a program, it’s not a person, it’s a thing, it was built with a purpose to fill. I said I’m in trouble because it thinks that the real danger to me is myself. I am a program, I’m a broken program, and that’s just how it is.”

 

Salem winced his eyes shut a few times to cope with what Renegade just said. A program… A broken program. What ever could have convinced it to feel this way about itself? “I’m sorry…” It said. “Ren, wait, no. Hold on.”  The robot looked at him with confused eyes. “First of all, no matter who or what is out there, I’m going to protect you. You saved me from my own thinking so many times. I care about you tremendously! And like, you’re not broken. Well, even if you are, I wouldn’t ask for anything better. You don’t need to be fixed. You don’t need to be corrected. What’s weird about you has made you the most interesting part of my life. You’re a robot. I thought robots were supposed to be emotionless. Now I know that robots don’t have to be anything. In this age, everyone has something to say about them. I know that there aren’t any rules for how you have to be, maybe rules for how your... kin think you should be. You’re very special and I want you to know that you won’t be ostracized for it.”

 

Renegade turned around and looked at Salem with a farouche expression. Within seconds, it turned into a smile. “Thank you… It means so much to me.” It warmly walked up to him and looked him in the eye for a few seconds until it got awkward. “Do you want me to take you somewhere?” Renegade asked. “I mean, if you’re offering, hell yeah.” Salem didn’t question. He was bored of life without Renegade, and ready to go somewhere cool with it again. “Alright.” Renegade bent down and picked Salem up just as he did the first time they traveled together and then Salem didn’t know how he felt anymore. He remembered the pain of the traveling last time, and how scary it was at first, and then he had some questions.

 

“Where are we going??” “Somewhere very special.” “How are we gonna get there??!?” “Trust me, you protect me, I protect you. Now hold on tight.” Renegade squatted down as if to take a big leap into the air. Salem’s heart throbbed and he reached his arms around Renegade’s neck in kind of a strange looking hug. He heard some hissing noises from below him. “Are you ready?” “Ready as I’ll ever be.” “Good.” Instantly, Renegade launched itself up at an amazing speed. The wind created by the upward movement flowed through Salem’s skull, making him feel ill, but excited. It flapped through his cheeks, pressed his glasses onto his face, and blew his hair back. He shook and shivered and shouted in place with fear, better off not knowing how far away he was from ground. He tried to squint his eyes shut to curb his anxiety, but the forced wind just blew them back open. He looked at Renegade to see its calm, expressionless face looking up, strands of silver hair blowing in every direction, and he held onto it for dear life. Eventually, their pace slowed quickly and they stopped going up. At one point they halted completely and were still for a second, before Salem heard a noisy flaming hiss from below him. He looked down to see Renegade’s legs turn into those mini rockets that emit a purple flame. And then, they were still.

 

“You can look now.” Renegade looked down at Salem’s closed eyes as he fought with himself to open them. When he looked down his heart almost disintegrated in his chest upon realizing just how far up they were. “It’s okay, I’ve got you.” Renegade flew straight ahead, still holding a Salem that was paralyzed with fear. “Look over there, that’s your home.” Renegade gestured to a house low to the ground with a fieldy area behind it. He looked, and took a few deep breaths. His heart rate slowed and he smiled and laughed a bit. “Woah, that’s pretty cool.” He said, observing the field in which he met Renegade for the first time. He began to look around on his own, trying to identify the tops of buildings. Sometimes they would pass by a low hanging cloud. Renegade looked up and so followed Salem. The sky above them was cloudless now, dark and starry. As they flew further away from the city, Salem looked behind them and saw the bright lights shining through the sky. It looked magnificent. He giggled again out of giddiness, and looked and smiled at Renegade. “I never want to forget this moment.” He thought out loud. And then he got an idea. “Hey Ren, would it be okay if I took a picture?” “I suppose.” It responded. Salem released Renegade’s neck and took his phone out of his pocket, and slid it to camera mode. He held the phone out at arm’s length to get as much in frame as possible, regardless of how messy his hair was. He gave the camera the brightest smile he could. _Click!_ Yes, a photo of him soaring through the night sky in Renegade’s arms with the city behind them. Perfect.

 

It was like looking out the window on a long car ride as a kid, he looked up at sky moving slowly past him, he was in a daze and the world was his planetarium. He almost wanted to fall asleep right like that, but knew that he couldn’t. Soon enough, he heard a shift in the rockets, and felt the sky get farther away. But he didn’t say anything, he just felt the slow descent. Slow enough that he didn’t even realize how low to the ground he was, he felt a little startled when he heard a _thunk!_ And felt Renegade place him on the moist rainy grass beneath. He felt like he was still moving, like getting off of an elevator. But he knew he was safely grounded. Renegade scooted along the grass and then laid back down right next to him. They were both quiet. Salem kept that cheesy happy smile on his face, and looked around. They were on a hill, next to a tree. He breathed in, and looked at the sky. He saw the stars, they were impressive. Sometimes he saw a blemish in it, an airplane or something of the sort. Maybe a shooting star. From time to time, something floating out there with an unidentifiable blinking light caught his eye. Apparently, it caught Renegade’s, too.

 

“Salem, what’s that?” It said, reaching up to point at the blinking lights. “Beats me. I think those are satellites, but I’m not entirely sure.” “Oh!...” Renegade sounded surprised. They were silent again for a moment. “I really like looking at the sky at night. It’s so full of life. So few of my people realize that.” “It really is gorgeous, yeah.” Salem said, still smiling, still looking up. It’s times like this when the only thing you can do is expect the unexpected.

 

“Salem, I love you.”

 

The boy stopped everything he was thinking. He felt every function in his body stop to focus. He blinked a few times. Did that really just happen? Did Renegade just say what he thinks it said? “I…” Salem’s heart was restless once again. He is experiencing something he’s never felt before in his entire life, and it was a pure, ecstatic high.

 

“I love you too.”

 

He hoped Renegade didn’t see his heart pulsing through his thin t-shirt, and didn’t detect the panic in his voice. But it wasn’t an evil panic. Renegade laid its robotic arm palm up on the grass next to Salem, who reached over and grabbed the hand with his own. Renegade ran its metallic thumb over Salem’s flesh, and that’s when Salem realized, he loved this robot with all of his heart.

 

“If I were the star guardian, I’d give you every star in the sky.” He looked over at Renegade, awaiting a response. “That would make you a pretty shitty star guardian.” Salem laughed at it, Renegade laughed with him. “I did just have an idea…” Renegade spoke up. “Oh?” Salem inquired.

 

“This idea that… maybe we’re satellites. Maybe we were our own little disasters, floating out there alone, destined for a crash course together.” “...” “What do you think of that?” Salem grinned at his friend. “I love it, Ren. I love everything about it.” Salem was as content as he could possibly be. Minutes and minutes passed in happy silence, then Renegade let out a long sigh.

 

“I have to go.” It said. “Huh?” Salem’s trance was lifted. “As much as it would please me, I can’t stay here with you. I have to go. But I can tell you this time, I’ll be back.” Renegade’s words spilled out as it wiggled its hand free of Salem’s grip and sat up next to him. “May I take you home?” It offered. Salem puffed some air out of his nose in confusion and accepted, too lazy and sleepy now to respond in a normal fashion.

 

Renegade picked the heavy tired boy up off of the ground just as it did carrying him before. It got ready to take a running start to launch itself effortlessly into the sky, this time with no resistance from Salem. It ran up the hill, the breeze of a warm, sticky summer morning touched Salem’s skin. Leaping upwards, Renegade’s rocket boosters kicked on, allowing them to hover. It looked down at the boy held in its strong mechanical arms and smiled, continuing forth at a slow pace, low to the ground, low enough for them to graze the treetops and observe the roofs of the quiet houses as they passed. Salem was still in Renegade’s arms, grinning, eyes closed as his lethargy was finally setting in. Renegade guided itself to Salem’s house, slowing and lowering as they got closer. The two hovered above the roof of the house, and Renegade’s rockets shut off when it dropped onto its feet. “We’re home.”

 

Salem’s eyelids fluttered apart as he looked around. “Yeah, we sure are.” He said. “I’m going to put you down now.” Renegade’s arm which held up Salem’s legs was put down, landing him gracefully on his feet. He stood up and looked in his window, at his bed, in his room, and realized that he absolutely did not want to leave Renegade behind willingly. They stood in silence, Salem looking in his bedroom window, Renegade looking up to the sky.

 

“Well, where are you gonna go? I’m sure you have better things to be doing.” “I should have gone already.” Renegade said in its casual droning monotone, not breaking gaze with the sky. “Hmm.” Salem yawned and looked at Renegade. “Hey, Ren.” Salem said. “Yes?” Still looking up, it responded. Salem took a step or two closer to Renegade, lifted his arms up and hugged it. He held it tightly against him with his arm, pulling it in, but not enough to hurt it. It looked down at him and lifted its arms up after a few seconds and hugged back. Renegade’s embrace was tight and cool, Salem rested his head on his own hoodie that the robot was wearing, his glasses creaking under the pressure of having his face smothered. He felt Renegade’s thin figure and damp, torn clothing. He pressed his ear against its chest and heard the busy noises of whatever Renegade was made from, the same whirring that made him feel warm inside. He closed his eyes and smiled once again before loosening his grip.

 

“Thank you, Ren. Hey, would you like some new clothes? That hoodie seems a little beaten up.” “Oh… Sure…” Salem laughed and climbed back in his window. “And don’t run away this time!” He sifted through his closet to find more clothes that were too big for his own good. He was able to produce a black hoodie, two more pairs of sweatpants, a striped t-shirt and a lime green raincoat. Satisfied with his work of kind gesture, he crawled out the window again and Renegade was standing there, looking up some more. “Here. We have a new hoodie and some sweats, just like you’re wearing. A t-shirt in case you get warm. And a raincoat, if you ever want to stop by when it’s raining out.” Salem handed it the clothing and it held them firmly. “Thank you.” It said, grinning at the clothes in its hands.

 

It pulled itself onto the raised topmost part of the roof. “I have to go now.” It said, looking up and then back down at Salem, its eyes glowing as luminously as ever. “You’ll be back, right?” “Yes.” “Promise me?” The edge of the upper level of the roof went up to his mouth, he threw his arms on top of it, reaching one out toward Renegade. It walked to the edge, leaned down, and grasped Salem’s hand with its own. “I’ll see you soon, Salem.” Salem looked it in the eye as it let go and backed away from the ledge. It emit an electric hum and stood straight, neck back, face up. Its body started to shine a pale violet and he swore he could see through it. Renegade’s body faded out quickly and soon it was nowhere in sight. Salem took a deep breath in and his chest swelled with a lonesome feeling as he pulled his arms off of the edge and climbed back in through his window to lay down in his bed.

 

He laid on his back and blinked some sleep back out of his eyes, glaring up at the window on his ceiling. It has some moisture left over on it from the rain earlier, illuminated by the dull light coming in, indicating that morning was just past the horizon. As he was consumed by a feeling of emptiness, he removed his glasses and rolled over to pull out his phone and cover himself in his blankets. In the midst of his plight, he chose to message a friend that he soon remembered that he missed dearly. A message about something important to him.

 

[5:45 AM] salem: Hey Cambria! Im sorry I haven’t messaged in awhile. Ive been a little bit distracted with life. There’s something that I think you should know about

 

He sent it effortlessly, without even thinking about it. In his weary mind, waiting for a response seemed like the right thing to do. When he looked at the time and HOPED that Cambria was asleep at this hour for her own good, he decided to just go for it.

 

[5:48 AM] salem: I met someone. But it isnt like a normal person yknow. Its not from around here, its a robot. It crash landed in my backyard some time ago. Its name is renegade, but I call it ren. It is very tall and has purple eyes and it talks wonderfully. But it only sees me sometimes, usually when I need it the most. It truly must be from an entirely different world because Ive never connected in this way before. You can believe me if you want you dont have to and I cant make you. But if you were wondering whats going on with me, that’s it. Id love for you to tell me how youve been as well

 

Aaaaaaand, sent. Salem, satisfied with his work, began to mentally prepare for at least an hour of two of sleep. He swiped onto his photos and tapped down to his most recent, the picture of him in Renegade’s arms, flying. He lazily blinked and grinned at the picture. It wasn’t great, his arms were shaky and he didn’t look super flattering from that angle (in his opinion at least), and Renegade’s face was almost completely out of frame. It made him happy upon seeing it either way, and put him in a mental state so axiomatically good that he was ready to pass out when he let his eyes close again. He dropped his phone on his nightstand and snuggled up into his covers, allowing happy thoughts of Renegade’s return and telling his friends and family all about it one day, one day... drift him off to sleep.

 

_. . ._

  


Morning haze took him over and sunlight beamed through his ceiling window onto his face, keeping it nice and warm. He opened his eyes and muttered meaningless words, rolling onto his stomach before accepting that the world was awake, he was awake, and he’d have tough luck changing that. He instantly checked the time on his phone. 10:15 AM. That’s more or less four hours of sleep, but he could always take a nap later, he supposes. His eyes subconsciously drifted to his messenger notifications. He opened it to see a message from Cambria in response to his “moment of truth” last night.

 

[9:18 AM] circuit: salem!! hi!! wow, that’s, uh, something. do you mind elaborating on how you met this “robot”??? that sounds fantastic, but part of me wants to question if you’re delusional. but if i had to choose, i think i believe you. you never know when the next thing that will change your life comes up on you. i’ve been well. i still think about you a lot. it means a lot that you’d ask, and share this with me. let me know when you find out, i’d love to hear more.

 

The message made him happy. It made him happy to know that his story of Renegade didn’t seem deceptive to her. He wanted to tell her all about it, all that he could. And thinking about how she wanted to hear it made him even happier. It was a fantastic mutual feeling.

 

Yet, something about him still felt some apprehension. Some tightness, something uneasy that knotted up his stomach when he tried to figure out what it was. When he thought of Renegade, it happened. He was so replete with emotion that he didn’t quite know which way to feel. The boy hoped and knew that the feeling wouldn’t last forever. But if there was one thing he did know, it was that his desire to live at the same time as Renegade was infinite. And for now, that was all he needed.

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> thank i love you


End file.
